


An Eye for an Iris

by KneesofPoultry



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Action, After Tales From The Borderlands, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Nisha has a great time, Romance, Tim has a bad time, mild AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-08-27 01:39:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8382877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KneesofPoultry/pseuds/KneesofPoultry
Summary: After receiving warnings of war, Lilith has been tracking down Vault Hunters in a desperate attempt to assure their survival. She wants two things, entry to the Vault of the Iris, and an Echo-Eye, rumoured to harbour the spirit of Handsome Jack himself. 
Unfortunately for Lilith, others have heard of the same rumours...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! This is my first published Borderlands fic. 
> 
> Just wanted to say thanks to some friends. They've been listening to me ramble on about this for ages, and they've helped me develop this so much. So yeah, thanks. 
> 
> All feedback is appreciated, please enjoy!

In comparison to Helios, the Atlas headquarters were nothing. Helios had been clinically clean, filled to the brim with asshole employees, impressive robots, and various shades of yellow. However, Atlas' employees never seemed brave enough to be rude, and the only robot Fiona ever saw was Gortys. 

Not that it was a bad thing. Gortys was absolutely adorable, and Fiona was more than happy to see her. And judging from Gortys' wave and "Hiiiiiii Fiona!" the feeling was mutual. 

Gortys wheeled towards her, blue eyes shaped into a smile. She wrapped her tiny robot arms around Fiona's legs. Fiona looked down at her, patting her on the head. When she moved away, Gortys put her hands together. "It's been so long. How have you been? Found any vaults?" 

Fiona sighed, crossing her arms. "No. Whenever we thought it'd be a vault all we found was dirt." She paused. "And sand." 

"Oh, that's not your fault, Fiona," Gortys said, waving her hand dismissively. Fiona couldn't stop smiling at her, she'd been surrounded by nothing but grumpy vault hunters for too long, "I'm sure you'll find something! It just takes time. Took you ages to find the Vault of the Traveller, remember? And you got cool stuff from there. Stuff that I don't know about, but stuff, right?" 

Wrong. When her and Rhys had touched the chest, they'd been taken away to some weird, glowing purple room. To be honest, Fiona didn't remember much of the vault, only floating for some time, hurting as if all her bones were clinking into each other, clinging onto Rhys while he cried into her hair, then landing on the hard, stone ground that was the Vault of the Traveller. 

But Gortys was being so positive, and Fiona wasn't going to shoot that down. "Yeah, sure did."

"See! You'll find more treasure, I'm sure of it." Gortys assured her, resting a hand on her leg. She'd touch Fiona's shoulder if she could've. "But it's good you're not hunting right now. I've missed you heaps! So has Rhys! He missed you more than I did, he got super upset when you didn't show up last month." 

She blinked, looking at Gortys. "Seriously?" 

"Yeah! He wouldn't stop talking about you." She waved her arms around for emphasis, looking up at Fiona the whole time. "He kept asking me these weird questions. It's nice talking to Rhys and all, but those questions made it really awkward." 

Fiona frowned. "What kind of questions?" 

"Stuff that I didn't really know! Like, 'what if Fiona doesn't come back?' Or 'does she see me like that?' He almost paid mercenaries to bring you back. He said it was romantic," she paused, "I just thought it was weird." 

"I guess Rhys would see it that way." Fiona mumbled, looking down. All this talking did was make her feel worse for not showing up. Rhys had enough on his mind already, he didn't need to worry about her. 

Gortys shrugged. "Yeah. But this is so exciting! It's like my parents are finally back together again!" 

It took a few seconds for Fiona to comprehend what she had said. When she did, it stopped her from staring at a weird plant in the facility, and look down at Gortys in shock. "Wait, parents?" She laughed, "Oh god, Rhys doesn't make you call him dad, does he?" 

"No! Actually," looking around her, Gortys gestured for Fiona to come closer. She crouched down to her level, leaning in so Gortys could whisper in her ear. Truth be told, it really wasn't whispering, Gortys still spoke as loudly as she usually did, "Don't say this to him, but I think it makes him extremely uncomfortable. But he pretends it doesn't so he won't hurt my feelings. It's awfully nice of him, but I think it'd be good if he just told me." 

Fiona stood up again when Gortys tugged on her hand. "Enough whispering, you should really go see him. Come on!" Her hand was so tiny compared to Fiona's, she was afraid of crushing it if she held it too tightly.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. It genuinely surprised Fiona how many scientists roamed around the facility. She wondered if Rhys had offered jobs to some of Vaughn's bandits. It'd make sense, most of those ex-Hyperion code monkeys wouldn't know how to live anywhere other than in front of a screen. For the first time in years, the facility seemed to have more scientists in it than plants. 

Still, Fiona couldn't stop thinking about earlier. She could tell she'd regret asking, but did anyway. "How are Rhys and I like your parents?" 

"Don't you remember?" She seemed shocked, upset even. Fiona gently squeezed her hand, hoping she'd take it as an apology. It didn't stop Gortys from explaining. "You and Rhys put your parts together and made me!" Naturally, Gortys decided to announce this. Loudly. Loud enough that every scientist in earshot simultaneously turned to gaze at Fiona. Of course, most of them were already staring; she stood out greatly here, her dirt-and-blood covered outfit left footprints in the otherwise clean facility. 

Fiona focused on her boots, ignoring all the scientists staring. Gortys didn't seem to pick up on her awkwardness, but, thankfully, she didn't say anything else. Instead hurrying to Rhys' office. Once they reached his office door, Gortys said goodbye to Fiona, giving her one final hug before she wheeled away. 

Now standing face to face with Rhys' door, Fiona found herself overwhelmed by sudden dread. She felt guilty, but also ridiculously worried. Would he hate her? Would he tell her to leave the second she stepped inside. He'd have every right to, she'd promised she'd visit at least once a month, but broken it the second she had a lead on a vault. 

The real question was; why did she feel so guilty? Yes, they had become close friends after the Vault, but she didn't think she'd feel this bad. 

She steeled herself, holding her breath as she opened his door. 

The paperwork and various robot pieces in Rhys' office managed to make the large space feel tiny. The large window behind Rhys would've allowed light to enter the room, but he had drawn the curtains, only a slither of light came through. Rhys himself sat at his desk, his robotic hand through his hair as he wrote something. 

Sudden nervousness hit Fiona as she cleared her throat. She moved closer to his desk, slowly and cautiously. She almost jumped when he looked up at her. There was a pause as his gaze locked onto her. Rhys' Echoeye flickered to life, looking over her. His mouth fell open, and he rushed to stand up, papers flicking off of the desk. 

"Fi?" He asked, wonder filling his tone. He couldn't believe his own eyes. 

She smiled, putting her hands on her hips. "Yep." 

More paperwork fluttered off of his desk as Rhys rushed towards her. He wrapped his arms around Fiona, holding her tightly against him. He had to bend over slightly to hug her. A sigh from Rhys told her how relieved he felt, he practically melted when she held him. 

The hug lasted too long to be casual. They both knew it, but they didn't say anything about it. 

Instead, Fiona laughed lightly, moving out of their embrace. "I take it you missed me?" 

His human eye looked glassy, for a moment Fiona worried he would start to cry. She wasn't prepared for that, wasn't prepared for the feelings he had for her to be spilled out. She knew what Rhys was like, way, way too emotional. She lowered her shoulders when he didn't cry, instead smiling at her. "Of course I missed you! You didn't return any of my calls, I-," he cleared his throat, looking down at his shoes, "I thought something had happened." 

"I've been told you were gonna send mercenaries." She put a hand on her hip. Her smirk hid the fact that she felt guilty. Super, super guilty. "I'm sorry, Rhys. We had no service down there." 

He sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'm just happy you're back." The way he said it made her feel that he meant it. Rhys scratched the back of his head. "It gave me time to, uh, work on stuff. There's something I want to show you." He sounded eager, Fiona didn't think it was possible for someone to enthusiastically open a drawer, but Rhys proved her wrong. Whatever was inside the drawer rattled as Rhys pulled it open, grabbing a piece of paper. 

Fiona scoffed, raising an eyebrow as she moved closer. "A piece of paper? Wow Rhys, impressive." 

"Shut up," he grumbled, looking down to unravel it. She peered down at it, noticing the Atlas logo up in the top left corner first. He set a container of pens and a stack of paperwork down on either side so it wouldn't roll up again, and grinned at her surprise. 

She didn't know if it had been Rhys who drew it. If he had he'd done a good job. On the grid paper were the schematics for a pistol. The schematics were detailed, all the markings were etched onto it. The shape of the gun reminded Fiona of her pistol, the one that fit underneath her sleeve. 

"It's, uh, based off of the one Felix made you." He saw her tense when he said Felix's name, and thankfully didn't continue to speak about him. Instead, he gestured to the schematics. "Pistols aren't a huge thing in our merchandise, Atlas guns focus on higher damage. And usually no elemental effect." 

Fiona looked over the sheet, noticing the symbols drawn on the barrel. Incendiary, Shock, and Corrosive, just like her pistol. On the side of the sheet, written in Rhys' handwriting, was: 'Higher accuracy, less damage. Quicker fire rate. Barrel spins to chosen element." 

She found it hard to make any jokes. She couldn't even speak, it had caught her completely off guard. There's no denying it, the gun is very, very sexy. It would also mean that Fiona could ditch the Maliwan SMG that Maya had been lending her. 

Walking around the desk, Fiona stood closer to him, and looked over the design. "It looks badass." He smiled at her words, scratching the back of his neck. "When will it be finished?" 

Those words made Rhys perk up. He grinned at her, hands clasped together. "Actually, it's already done." He paused. "I kinda expected you to be back earlier." 

There it was again. The guilt gnawed at her her once more. Fiona put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I would've called you if I could've, I promise." 

It was true. She really would have. But the place Lilith had dragged them to had no service, the echonet couldn't reach the area. The whole trip had been a bust, instead of the vault Lilith assured would be there, they found a crater where a town used to be. Fiona spent all her time standing around while Lilith spoke to people living nearby. 

"You're here now." Rhys said. "We shouldn't waste time standing here. Who knows when you'll find another vault?" 

Fiona scoffed. "Probably not for a long time. They're not easy to find, y'know." She waited for him to look at her before she squeezed his shoulder. "C'mon, I wanna see this gun."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god I am so sorry I took so long to update. This story will probably be slowly updated! 
> 
> Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for all the lovely comments I received! You're all awesome thank you so much! I really hope you enjoy this chapter, all feedback is appreciated!

Her pale green eyes narrowed as she set her sights on the target. The pistol looked pretty freakin' good in her hands, it glowed a soft orange under the shooting range lights. Atlas' shooting range was very obviously not meant to be a shooting range, and it showed, with all the weird plants that hadn't been moved out yet, and a makeshift target that had been unevenly drawn with a marker onto cardboard. 

Although he should've been, Rhys wasn't watching the gun. His eyes were fixed on Fiona, watching her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He didn't realise how intently he was staring, but Fiona did. She turned to look at him, eyebrow raised. He cleared his throat, trying to shrug off his staring as just looking at the gun. "How is it?" 

"Yeah, pretty great." She said with a grin, turning it over in her hands. "Love the accuracy. Thanks, Rhys." 

He had to stutter over his words for a while before he could say anything she could actually understand. "Uh. Yeah, no problem, Fi. I just hope it keeps you safe, y'know?" He scratched the back of his head, smiling softly. There was a silence between them, Fiona scuffed her shoes against the tiles on the floor. They both looked away from each other, until Rhys gained enough courage to break the silence. "So, how has Vault-Hunting been?"

She smirked at his question. Yeah, Rhys knew it was lame, but it ended that silence pretty well. "Yeah, it's been pretty good." She looked down at her pistol, flicking the barrel. The gun stopped glowing orange, instead turning a light green colour. "Well, when I'm not working with Lilith." 

Rhys offered a small smile, but seeing her smirk change into a glare made him stop. He had heard the stories about Lilith, Fiona always had something negative to say about her. "She didn't call you a trashy businesswoman again, did she?" 

"No," Fiona hissed, "not since I first met her. But she did decide to drag Maya and I out to a _Vault_." She scowled. "She didn't even seem surprised when there was no Vault. It was like she planned the whole thing. We stood around for hours while Lilith spoke to the people there, then we drove back to Santuary." 

"Maybe..." Rhys smiled nervously, trying his hardest to tip-toe around upsettin Fiona even further, "she really did think a Vault was there?" 

The look Fiona shot Rhys managed to make him feel ten times worse than any insult could've. He looked down at his shoes as she continued to rant. "There's no way she thought a Vault was there, Rhys." She sighed, moving to place her gun down on one of the benches in the shooting range. "Gaige told me she's been sending them all out on weird missions. She thinks it has something to do with almost executing Athena." Fiona paused. "No one will tell me what happened there. Not even Athena. All I know is that Lilith wanted to kill her, but something obviously stopped her." 

Another silence passed. Fiona let out another sigh, this time more exaggerated, and crossed her arms. Eventually, Fiona stopped scowling, smiling up at Rhys. "Enough about Lilith, how have you been?" 

"Oh, yeah, good." Fiona raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. "Well, the plants haven't eaten anyone for a week. I offered to upgrade Gortys, but she said she's happy how she is." He scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, Loader Bot's been guarding the entrance for us sometimes. Nothing really... _exciting_ has happened." 

Fiona's soft smile fell, replaced with an almost grim expression. She almost whispered, "You haven't had any more nightmares?" 

"No." he inwardly shuddered, looking down. "No, I would've called you." 

The nightmares had started after Rhys had ripped his ECHOeye out, by shoving a piece of jagged glass into his socket and tearing all the wires attached to his brain. He'd had to, it'd been the only way to completely remove Handsome Jack's AI out of his mind. Of course, trauma was to be expected. After experiencing something like that, there was no way Rhys wouldn't be damaged. 

Once he'd replaced his ECHOeye and arm with Atlas pieces, he'd searched the ECHOnet, discovering that there was a good chance that he'd damaged some part of his brain by ripping those wires out. It would mean he'd lose some perception of depth, colour, and, the part that had him cursing at his screen, experience hallucinations. 

Nightmares hadn't been listed in side effects. But he experienced them often at first. The nightmares would always be different to each other, but they'd always end with him dying. He'd feel his own cold, metal fingers around his neck, and he'd lose control of them completely, hearing Jack's laughter in his ear as he struggled to try and pull his own arm away. 

The fingers would only tighten. 

The nightmares would leave him in a state of panic, he'd wake up screaming, crying, a complete mess. The first thing Rhys would do was feel around his neck- with his human hand- to feel for any bruises. It wasn't until after he and Fiona had entered the Vault of the Traveller together that he'd been brave enough to call her. He'd told her everything, sobbing the entire time, crying about how he thought he'd die. 

And, to his surprise, she'd been willing to listen to him. Even after waking her up in the middle of the night, she'd been calm, offering to help and trying to understand. He'd call her almost every time, calming down after she told him, "Its just a dream" and "he's gone, I promise." 

He still had nightmares. But they weren't so regular anymore, something Rhys was extremely thankful for. 

She gave him a smile, stepping closer. "That's really good. I'm glad they're stopping," Her smile dropped, "as long as you're not lying. I swear, Rhys, if I find out you've been-" 

"Hey, hey!" He put his hands up defensively, laughing nervously at her quirked eyebrow. "I promise! You're like, my best friend, y'know? I wouldn't lie to you, Fi. Especially not after keeping Jack a secret." He scratched the back of his head, looking away briefly. "Cause that, that there us all into deep shit." 

"Yeah, that was incredibly stupid of you." Ouch, that was blunt. He winced at the unimpressed look she gave him, with her hand on her hip and her lips pursed. "Don't do shit like that again." 

"I just said-" 

"You _have_ to promise me, Rhys." She stepped closer to him, arms crossed. At this distance, Rhys realised she smelt really, really pretty. He didn't know if it was from the plants through the facility, or just...her. Did she put on perfume for him? No, that was ridiculous, right? 

"Okay." The sincerity in her voice surprised him as much as her concern moved him. Childishly, Rhys held his hand out, extending his pinky finger. Fiona rolled her eyes, but she accepted his gesture, wrapping her pinky around his and shaking. "There, now I can't ever lie to you about Jack." 

She moved her hand away with a smirk. "And if you break your promise, I get to break your pinky." 

"Yeah- _what?_ " His eyes widened at her laughter. She turned away from him as he blanched. "That, that isn't how it goes! It that some messed up Pandoran tradition?! You can't-!" 

Fiona shrugged. "Too late. Should've used your cyborg arm, huh?" 

Rhys scowled as she giggled. Before he could say anything more, his ECHO beeped alive, and his secretary's name came up on the screen. 

He looked over at Fiona apologetically. She didn't look too upset, giving him a dismissive wave as she slid her new pistol into a holster. 

He answered the ECHO with a polite "hello?" 

"Sir," his secretary's voice rang through the ECHO. "There's someone here to see you." 

"But I cancelled all meetings, did you tell them-" 

"I did, sir." The secretary's voice shook a little. A lot of the ex-Hyperion employees still flinched when they got something wrong. Rhys never intentionally did anything to scare them, he didn't think he could if he tried to, but after years of dealing with the cut-throat methods at Helios, they still weren't used to a friendlier workplace. "But she demanded, and I didn't want to upset her." 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. Send them-" 

"They actually want you to come down and see them, sir." 

"Oh. Weird. Who are they?" 

"The woman here calls herself the Firehawk." There was a silence for a second, Rhys assumed the Firehawk was talking to his secretary. "She said to bring Fiona down with you, sir." 

This time, Rhys frowned, looking over at Fiona. "Thanks, I'll be there in a moment." He hung up on the ECHO, smiling weakly at Fiona's confused look. "So, uh, the Firehawk is here to see us." 

Her confusion switched to irritation in mere seconds, and she scowled, resting her hand on her gun's handle. "Are you kidding me? I was so careful!" Before Rhys could ask, she snapped. "There's no way she should know where the facility is. I haven't told anyone where I slip away to. They don't trust corporations over at Sanctuary, not after Jack."

"Well," he ran a hand through his hair, "she knows we're here. I guess she found out somehow." 

"Obviously." She hissed. He flinched at her tone, but said nothing as she sighed. "I don't understand how I could've messed up! Even if she was following me, I would've seen..." 

They both went silent for a minute, looking at each other, before Rhys quietly said. "Didn't you say she could-" 

"She can Phasewalk, of course. She's a Siren." She looked at Rhys, scoffing. "I didn't even think-" 

"I mean, it's not exactly a thing everyone does. It's easy to look over." 

"I guess." Fiona brushed her hair out of her eyes. "But," she sighed, "guess we shouldn't keep her waiting, huh?" 

"Yeah." Rhys put his hands together, looking over at the door. "I won't lie, I'm terrified of what she might do."'

Fiona put her arm around his shoulders, forcing him slouch down to her level. For a second, Rhys wondered if she was on her tiptoes, nut decided that she wouldn't appreciate him pointing that out. Fiona smirked at him. "Nah, it'll be fine. She won't shoot you." 

"Oh, that's reassuring-" 

"If you piss her off, someone else will shoot you for her."'

"Uh, thanks?" 

"And if you manage to _really_ piss her off, she'll use those Siren powers and melt your face off. I heard that you go purple and your brain just explodes." She paused, raising an eyebrow at him as she squeezed his shoulder. 

He laughed nervously. "You know, Fi, that doesn't make me feel much better." 

"I know." She grinned, patting him on the back as she moved towards the door. Shaking his head, Rhys quickly adjusted his outfit, brushing his coat down before he joined Fiona. Even if the Firehawk did melt his face off, he had to look presentable. 

\---

They found Lilith at the front desk, being offered a coffee from Rhys' secretary. She sat alone, picking at her nails as she waited. When Fiona and Rhys moved closer to her, she looked up at them, giving them a small smirk. Somehow, she managed to look even scarier than Rhys had originally imagined. Yeah, she was good looking, there was no denying that, but he knew she could end him in seconds, and that made him step closer to Fiona. 

Her tattoo was more impressive than Rhys could've imagined. It sort of reminded him of his own tattoo, except Lilith's tattoo looked larger than his, and was made up of flowing lines instead of a block colour. Rhys' tattoo stopped at his chest, but judging by the blue ink revealed on Lilith's exposed hip, it went further down. 

Lilith stood up, walking over to the pair. She looked at Rhys, yellow eyes narrowed. "So, this is Mister Atlas." 

He laughed nervously, extending a hand out to her. "It's just Rhys, actually." 

Lilith didn't take his hand, instead crossing her arms over her chest. She looked over him, Rhys felt incredibly judged as she said. "What are your plans on Pandora, Rhys? What's your company going to do to our planet?" 

"Uh, well..." he glanced over at Fiona, hoping to get some hint on what to say. Instead he found that Fiona's gaze was fixed on Lilith, expression neutral, but he could tell she was on-edge. He turned back to Lilith with a smile, perfectly reciting his planned answers for possible future interviews. "Atlas' current goal is to become well-known down here. We've been focusing on producing higher quality weapons so we stand out against other companies." 

"Sounds good, doesnt he, Lil?" Fiona stepped in between them, one hand on her hip. "Didn't hear anything about blowing up bandit camps." 

The Siren looked over Fiona and straight at Rhys. His legs shook at the intentisty of her glare; her eyes were bright, they made him think of fire and melting off faces. His face, if he wasn't careful. "Jakobs, Dahl, Vladof, Maliwan, Tediore, Torgue, Hyperion," Lilith smirked at Rhys, "Atlas. They're all companies, they all make guns, what's so different about them?" 

He opened it mouth to reply, but Fiona beat him to it. It was probably for the best, she had a way with her words. "Atlas hasn't been drilling holes into Pandora. And they haven't been targeting any camps." She crossed her arms, turning to Rhys. "You're in league with a bandit camp, aren't you?" 

"I-uh, yeah!" He grinned, stepping up next to Fiona. "Vaughn's gang. They haven't really decided on a name yet.." 

"Look at that, Lilith," Fiona smirked, putting a hand on Rhys' shoulder, "working with the people, not against them. Plus, I'm pretty sure the Slabs have been looking after them." She shrugged, sending Lilith a coy smile. "Sounds like Brick trusts them."

There was a silence. Lilith glowered at Fiona, before sighing. "Okay. I'm convinced. You won't go insane yet." She stepped closer to Rhys, making him step back. "But I knew some kid who had a huge hero complex, swore that he was the good guy, and look where that got him." He swallowed nervously at her now glowing tattoo. Even Fiona reached for the pistol at her hip. "Stay sane, Rhys, and you get to keep your brains in your head. Understand?" 

He nodded. Once she'd decided Rhys did actually understand, Lilith leant back, her tattoo no longer glowing. 

"That all you came here to do?" Fiona asked, irritation clear in her tone. "Come in here to threaten my friend?" 

"No. I came here to talk to the both of you." Lilith paused. "Somewhere private and away from people." 

"There's my office." Rhys said. Lilith's lack of response scared him, so he continued. "Uh, unless you have somewhere else in mind?" 

"Your office will be fine." She assured. 

Rhys smiled nervously, gesturing for her to follow him. Multiple scientists and workers stopped what they were doing to look over at Lilith. Some of them whispered to each other, others were quick to put their heads down again. A few did call out and greet Rhys, but quickly stopped when they saw the Siren. Whenever Lilith would make eye contact with a scientist they would quickly look away. 

Her lips twitched upwards into a smirk. "Your employees don't look very tough." There was a clatter next to them; a worker had dropped what he was carrying when he saw them, bits of metal clanging against the floor. He sent Rhys an apologetic look as he quickly bent down to clean up his mess. "Can they even carry a gun?" 

"Yes." Rhys snapped. He quickly stopped glaring at Lilith when the face-melting imagery hit him again. "They create them. They probably know how to use a gun better than you do." 

"Uh-huh." She didn't sound impressed, looking over at a group of employees struggling to move a potted plant. "Fiona's probably the only one here who's been in a real fight." 

This time, Rhys kept his mouth shut, making brief eye contact with Fiona. She rolled her eyes, scowling at Lilith. "Rhys has fought as well. We both went into the Vault, it wasn't just me." 

Lilith stayed silent for the rest of the walk to his office. Rhys unlocked his office door, letting her and Fiona enter before him. He watched Lilith wander around the small space, eyes roaming over his incomplete weapons and blueprints. She sat down in one of the padded chairs in front of Rhys' desk. Fiona sat in the one next to hers, while Rhys returned to his skag-skin office chair. 

"I can call for coffee, if you want-" 

"Is that all you guys say here?" Lilith scoffed, leaning back in her seat.

He looked down at his hands, clearing his throat and mumbling an apology. Fiona tapped her foot on the ground impatiently, turning to Lilith. "Now, why are you here?" Rhys looked up, resting his chin on his hands and raising an eyebrow. 

"We all know how you two destroyed Helios." Lilith began. "And how you entered the Vault of the Traveller. It's all impressive, most people find it amazing that you two managed to survive the whole thing." She ignored Fiona's glare as she continued. "I'm sure you both know about the Vault my team and I found." 

"You didn't find anything." Fiona reminded her, sitting up. "Mordecai said there were tentacles and nothing." 

"Yes. It also made Eridium surface around Pandora." Lilith explained. "But, everyone knows what happened in our Vault. No one knows what you found in yours. Except for you two." 

Rhys sighed. He knew that, eventually, someone would ask them. He glanced at Fiona. When she looked back at him, she raised her brow, mouthing 'remember?' He turned back to Lilith, who sat still, patiently waiting for an answer. 

"Sorry." He winced as his voice broke. _Wow_ , Lilith made him nervous. "It's gonna stay that way. We're not telling anyone else what was in there." 

Lilith narrowed her eyes, smiling at Rhys. It certainly wasn't friendly. "Why not?" 

"Um." He looked over at Fiona for help. She rolled her eyes.

"Look, Lilith. I wanted to spare you. But I can tell you won't take no for an answer." She sighed dramatically. "The truth is, the Vault of the Traveller showed Rhys and I-" 

His eyes widened, sitting up in his chair to stare at Fiona. "I thought we weren't telling her-" 

She put a hand up to silence Rhys, although she didn't face him. "- fucking each other." 

"I." Lilith leant back, away from Fiona. "What?" 

"Skag style." She explained, face serious. Rhys hid his face in his hands as Fiona continued. "Full on. Hardcore. I had Rhys bent over-" 

"Okay okay!" Lilith grimaced. "That is enough. You're obviously lying, Fiona, how does that have anything to do with the Vault of the _Traveller_?" 

"Well," Fiona smirked, looking over at Rhys. He felt himself go deep shades of crimson. "We did travel pretty far south." 

Lilith continued to scowl as Rhys groaned, placing his head on his desk with a soft thud. When he looked up, Fiona was grinning, apparently proud of her lie. 

Whatever she wanted to achieve, it seemed to work. Lilith huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you are telling the truth, I can see why you didn't want to tell me. I kind of wish you hadn't." 

"Hey, we warned you." Fiona reminded her, smirking.

Rhys sighed, sending Lilith an apologetic look before asking. "Why do you want to know about what we saw anyway?" 

"Because I've been searching for," she paused, thinking, " _something_. And after hearing about you two entering that Vault, I was kinda hoping you'd found something useful." She scowled. "Apparently I was wrong." 

"What _are_ you looking for?" Rhys asked. "We could use some of our resources to maybe help you." He ignored the sharp look Fiona sent him as he opened the ECHOnet on his arm, looking at the holographic screen.

Lilith remained silent for some seconds, looking down at her hands. "Sorry, Rhys, I don't really trust corporations. How do I know you won't shoot me after I tell you?" 

"Because Rhys has trouble picking up a heavy rock?" Fiona said. Rhys rolled his eyes at her, muttering under his breath as she grinned. 

Lilith didn't smile at her joke, face now serious. Rhys cleared his throat, sitting up straight. "She has a point. I don't even look dangerous, I know." 

"The last corporation employee I worked with was a stick who was in over his head." She snapped, now glaring at him. "Looked like nothing. But that twig managed to create a powerful laser out of a Vault monster, kill my boyfriend, almost kill me, and almost entirely screw over the whole of Pandora. Excuse me for being skeptical, but from past experience, working with companies just puts you higher up on their to-kill list." 

The brief silence that followed Lilith's rant was incredibly awkward. Fiona was the one who broke it, Rhys could see her working out the situation, planning her clever choice of words as she leant forward in her chair. "Why don't you give Rhys a chance? Let him earn your trust. Maybe he can come with us next time you drag us to some hole in the ground, prove to you that he can be useful." 

To his surprise, Lilith seemed to consider it. "Alright." She said finally. She looked from Rhys to Fiona. "I was going to head out to a small town near Sanctuary in a couple of days. There's someone living there that might have some information I'm looking for." She made eye contact with Rhys, he felt himself shiver unpleasantly under her stare. "I'm known around there. It'll be harder for me to find anything. But you two might be able to do it. If you bring him back, maybe I'll tell you what I'm looking for." 

He nodded. "Okay. Sounds fair. Who is it?" 

"I'll fill you in tomorrow." Lilith explained. "Maybe you should stay at Sanctuary for the night, Rhys. You and Fiona can leave to find him first thing tomorrow morning. I promise, it shouldn't be a dangerous task. Pretty low risk compared to exploding Helios." 

He laughed nervously at that. "Alright. We'll do it." 

"Good." She smiled. Lilith's ECHO began to beep, she stood up from her seat, hand moving to answer the call. "Excuse me for a moment. Pack for the night, I want to leave as soon as possible." 

The second Lilith left the room, Rhys turned to Fiona, arms crossed. "Skag style? Really?!" 

She snickered, sending him a shit-eating grin. "Come on, what was I supposed to say? Tell her what we really saw?" She paused for a moment, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "It'd sound too sappy and you know it." 

"Oh, and going at it Skag style sounded better?" He scoffed, running a hand through his hair. "Why was I the one bent over?" 

"Because you would be." She stated simply, shrugging. He shook his head, somewhat amazed at her nonchalance. 

Rhys looked at her in silence. She was so pretty, way too pretty to be anywhere near his league. He paused for a moment, mumbling. "Fi, about what we _did_ see-"

"I don't..." she sighed, looking away from him, "I don't want to talk about that right now." 

He sighed, frustrated. "When _will_ you want to talk about it?" 

Her shoulders lowered, but as she turned to answer him, Lilith opened his office door. "You have ten minutes to pack." She said to Rhys, yellow eyes narrowed. "Or I'm leaving without you two. Have fun trying to drive at night, swarmed non-stop by Rakks."


End file.
